Improved brick-machine



' movable side being displaced, is again put in position ELlS.B1TNER,OF LOCK Letters .Patent No. 84,7 27 dated December 8, 1868.

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HAVE N, PENNSYLVANIA.

IIVIPRO'VED BRICK-MACHINE.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ELI S. BITNER, of Lock Haven, county of Clinton, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Brick- Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, and the letters of reference marked thereon, making part of this specilication, in which- Figure l is a longitudinal elevation of the machine, partly inl section.

Figure 2 isi a transverse. section on the line :1c-x of Figure 3, detail plans of the mould-boxes.

Figure 4 is a plan view of the inclined planes, showing their action upon the crank-ends ofthe mould-boxes.

In brick-machines Working over cylinders and on continuous bands or endless chains, as heretofore constructed, great diculties have occurred in discharging thebricks from the moulds. Various methods have been adopted to overcome these difliculties, but the machinery has been so complicated, that its liability' to get out of order has prevented its universal adoption. I provide a simple apparatus, and employ but few means to produce the desired result.

The moulds, in my machine, are constructed open at top and bottom. One side is madebf` a movable piece, and is pivoted to the ends, in which slots are ont at a slight angle from a perpendicular. These pivots are made with crank-ends which project out a convenient distance beyond the sides, to catch over the inclined planes at the rear end of the frame-work, and, as these crank-ends are carried up the inclined planes, they have a rotary motion given them, which causes the false or movable side also to slightly' turn up, as well as to be moved away from the moulded brick, thus relieving. it, and enabling it immediately afterwards to slide bodily and squarely' out upon the board.

The chain of moulds continuing to revolve,V the as the moulds pass under the first pressure-roller, before they pass to vthe feed-hopper. The clay is then deposited in the mould, which passes to the second pressure-roller, and so on to the inclined planes. lVhen the moulds reach this point, by the action of the inclined planes upon the crank-ends of the mould-boxes, the brick isv deposited u'pon one of a series of boards, said boards being moved tbrward upon rollers acted upon by the main Lh'iving-'power of the machine. i

The screw in my hopper is constructed like all feed# screws, except at the lower end, the threads, instead of continuing the regular pitch to the end, are tovbe turned back at any convenient angle, and the' epd'of thesorew, to the full diameter of the threads, is to be finished with a solid disk. The object in thus turning the threads, and the use ofthe disk, is to prevent the 1 also construct the frame-work which holds the pressure-rollers and the feed-trough, in such a manner that the pressure upon the moulds can be increased or diminished, and also, to act with elasticity should stones oriother hard substances be conveyed to the moulds. i

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, Iwill now proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A is the main frame of the brick-machine, which ings of all the rollers appropri sills.

The uprights A. A' have bottom cross-sills, A? A2 and A3 A3, and top plates, A4 A4, to brace the Whole in a substantial manner.

B and B are large rollers, atthe ends of the frame, around which the endless chain is conveyed. B is a cylindrical and Bl a hexagonal roller.

C Gis the endless chain of mould-boxes, constructed to match into each other, having common partitions, and each a movable s'lide,l.e, with crank-pivots, el, fastened to a side chain, c2, pivoted at c3.

D and D are the pressure-rollers, having on the ends of their shafts, l and d, spur-wheels, d2 and d3.

E is a feed-wheel, corrugated longitudinally, having 011 its shaft e a wheel, e. Y

F is the screw,enclosed in a box, F1, which com municates with the hopper F2. The threads of the screw are returned at f, and fl isa disk on the end of the screw-shaft.` On the outer end of the shaft is a pinion, f?, and on the other end of the shaft is a crank, f3.

under the cross-beams c and a. 5

El E2 E3 E4 are rollers, for supporting the planks H H.

H H are planks, upon which the brick are deposited aiter leaving the moulds These planks -are carried forward by the action of the feed-Wheel E.

The gearing'is shown in red, fig. 1.

I is the inclined plane.

K is the vent in the feed-box.

The operation is as follows:

The clay, properly prepared in a pug-mill: ,91 by any usual process, is fed into therupright hopper F2, and, by the action of the screw F, it is drawn to the vent K, in the bottom of the, box, and is gradually fed to the moulds as they pass under.

The gearing on the side of the frame, shown in red, tig. l, having wheels F dato the ends of the shafts d all of the iirst and second pressure-rollers, meshes into the pinion f2 on the end of the feed-screw F, and into the wheel e on the end of the corrugated feed-roller E, under the board H, and which, by its rotary action, carries the board along out of the machine, in the fdi'- rection of the arrow.

crowding of the material upon the end of the trough, and choking or jammingthe screw.

These gear-wheels are adjusted as to speed Y a manner that they Yeffect precisely in proper periods may be made of timber or of metal, having the bearately placed on the side G is the boardcovering the screw-box, and which is in such' of time the several objects of feeding the clay, conveying the moulds, andv also moving 'the plank out of the machine; and the crank, which is here placed on the end of the feed-screw, can be placed upon either ofthe other rollers to suit mechanical conveniences, or, if the machine is to be run byfany outside f power, a pulley can be substituted, and a'belt be used from anyY such motor. y A n v The frame A5 is made separately from the main frame A, to carry the rollers D D,:the feed-box Fl with the screw F, and the hopper F2, andl is so arranged that it bears upon the moulds of the chain, and, should there at any time be stones or other unyielding substances mixed with the clay, the frame will rise so as not to derange the rollers; and, should the weight of the frame not be sufcient to produce a proper mpression on the moulds, as they pass under it,-the

proper pressure can be obtained by the use of springs by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

Lf'Ihe pressure-rollers D Dl in the movable frame A5,`chain of moulds C, plank H, and corrugated feedroller E, constructed and arranged substantially as and for the purposes herein set forth.

2. The mould C, when provided with the movable side c, and crank-pin e, operated by Contact with the inclined planesI, and pressure-roller D, substantially as and for the purposes' herein described.

3. The combination of the feed-screw F, when deflected at f, with the diskf and feed-box F1, all constructed and operating substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof, I have signed -my name to this specicatiou, in the `presence of two subscribing witnesses.

, ELI S. BITNER.

Witnesses:

EDWIN J AMES,- JOHNYS. HOLLINGSHEAD.

What I claim therein as new, and desire to secure Y 

